I feel like I'm cheating on AT&T

AT&T has done my family well for several years. We have 8 lines with them on a family share plan, and have been mostly happy, despite living in an Edge-only area.

Well, an issue has arisen recently that forced me to have to try out another carrier. Now, keep in mind, I carry multiple devices. So, having one from each carrier is no big deal, but until now I haven'y had a reason.

We live in an Edge only area, but all around us aside from North, we are off-network. No big deal, since I still had Edge data, albeit slow. But, my maps and navigation worked, until recently.

AT&T ceased the data roaming agreement in several territories around us. The problem is, this eliminated about 70% of the area I work in. I'm an LTL truck driver, and use my maps a LOT, as well as Google to look up info on customers I don't regularly go to, which is frequent lately as we're growing. This also means my work-provided handheld ceases to work, which could provide directions, since its also on AT&T.

It's always been spotty, but I could get what I needed.

After a few hours on the phone with AT&T, it was discovered and confirmed that they did indeed drop to voice-only coverage, and the maps are sort of reflecting it.

Well, being that we're in a weird area where you have major carriers on their borders, it means spotty coverage from all carriers.

My choices were a regional carrier (US Cell, Cellcom, or Element Mobile), all of which are grossly expensive and not real reliable in the majority, or Sprint. Verizon is not available here, and is also expensive.

Well, I get the same discount from Sprint I do with AT&T because of work, and 14 days to try it out. Screw it, I gave it a shot. I'm 12 hours in and so far, I'm going to say something you won't hear often: I'm starting to like Sprint. They've made huge leaps in quality since the last time I dealt with them, and the experience I had while shopping was pretty decent.

My main line on AT&T is out of contract next month. If all goes well, I'll port that one out to Sprint, and keep my iPhone line on AT&T. AT&T works better where the rest of my family travels, so we won't ever be rid of them, but I'm kind of rooting for Sprint.

Btw, I got the HTC Evo 4G LTE. I was starting to really get down on Android with all the bloatware problems on AT&T. The update to 4.0.2 on my SII where all it seemed to do was add back the bloatware I could uninstall before, and lock it on, really irritated me. My wife has the OneX, and it's loaded with crap. The Evo is a breath of fresh air. The only thing that seems to be on here is Sprint Zone, which gives me account access, and I would have anyways.

So, there you have it. I was a HUGE AT&T fanboy. I've turned several people on to them, and here I am going to Sprint. Yikes!!

14 days, Sprint. You have 14 days to earn my future business. Don't screw it up! I spend a LOT of money on cellular (its an addiction). Just ask your buddy, AT&T.

Re: I feel like I'm cheating on AT&T

...So, there you have it. I was a HUGE AT&T fanboy. I've turned several people on to them, and here I am going to Sprint. Yikes!!

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.

Careful, the purpose of the Sprint section of this forum is to whine about slow 3G speeds and how Sprint's LTE service hasn't rolled out to your parent's basement yet. Sprint is slowly, but steadily improving but you don't turn an ocean liner (or a wireless network) on a dime. They've accomplished A LOT under Hesse - especially when you consider how broke they've been. If Dish doesn't screw up their Clearwire acquisition and they get sufficient backhaul (Sprint is a tier 1 global Internet access service provider so there's NO excuse for this) they have a real shot of moving up to the first tier. Meanwhile, AT&T has consistently been rated last for customer service year after year. Welcome to the up and coming underdog network!

Re: I feel like I'm cheating on AT&T

About the maps, the downloads in this area miss a lot of crucial data. Also, the third party logistics companies don't always get accurate info, so I rely heavily on Google search.

Everything was fine until ATT lost that data agreement. I can do a search and maps even at 19kbps, but not when I have nothing.

So far even my roaming speeds on Sprint have been over 128k.

I've also noted that at home, and I get 1–2 bars, but still rock solid call quality and 1.2mbps. ATT is 5 bars, and 26–45kbps, and sporadic call quality. Sprint tower is a few miles away, and I can see the ATT tower.

However, I Sprint falls on its face up north. I knew it would, which is why I will still carry an ATT line, but I may move my family plan.

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